Island Alpine Guides Mount Washington Backcountry

Quick report

Weather

sunny

Ride Type

mellowSlopes, openTrees, steepSlopes

Riding Quality

good

Snow Conditions

powder

Avalanche Conditions

avalancheConditionSlab, avalancheConditionSnow

Island Alpine Guides trip to assess snowpack and conditions. Widespread surface hoar 5-10mm right to ridge top. Thin sun crust (~3mm) on solar aspects above 20-25 degrees. Storm snow settling quickly with 15cm of fist density progressing to four finger and one finger resulting in ski penetration of about 20cm. A couple of natural avalanches observed in the North Bowl (one within past 24-48 hours, other older), see avalanche tab and photo. Skied steeper (35-40 degree) lee loaded alpine like feature at tree line elevation just below ridge top with no reactivity in storm snow. Nice skiing on shady aspects with 20cm ski pen of recent storm snow over rapidly settled previous storm snow. Also nice skiing on sunny aspects but on slopes less than 25 degrees to avoid temperature crust. Height of snow at bottom of North Bowl 180cm. Island Alpine Guides access the Mount Washington Backcountry under an access agreement with Mount Washington Alpine Resort and Mosaic Forest Management.

Snowpack

Obs Type

summary

Site Elevation

0

Avalanche

Run Length

120

Slab Width

20

Trigger Type

natural

Wind Exposure

leeSlope

Avalanche Size

1.5

Slab Thickness

30

Start Zone Aspect

NW

Vegetation Cover

openSlope

Start Zone Incline

40

Avalanche Character

stormSlab

Number Of Avalanches

2-5

Start Zone Elevation

1486

Runout Zone Elevation

1425

Avalanche Observation

24to48hrsAgo

Weak Layer Crystal Type

stormSnow

Start Zone Elevation Band

tln

Avalanche Occurrence Datetime

2024-11-26T20:00:00.000Z

Two natural avalanches, one recent, one during storm. See photo.